Tunisian Security Official Says Al Qaeda Cell is Behind Recent Assassination

Gun used in yesterday's shooting was the same one used in another killing

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — The al-Qaida-linked Islamist extremist cell behind an earlier political assassination also killed a leftist Tunisian politician using the same weapon, a top security official said Friday.

Mohammed Brahmi was shot 14 times in front of his home within sight of his family on Thursday, plunging the country into a political crisis and unleashing demonstrations around the country blaming the government for the assassination.

Interior Minister Loutfi Ben Jeddou told reporters that ballistics tests on the 9mm bullets used in the attack showed it came from the same weapon used to kill opposition leader Chokri Belaid in February. He alleged that the gunman is Boubakr Hakim, a 30-year-old weapons smuggler born in France, who, he said, was known for jihadi sympathies.